Trinity Puts Off Allocating Accommodation Places for Next Year

College is in talks with the HSE to put in place physical distancing procedures for its accommodation next year.

Cormac Watson
and
Donal MacNamee

Alex Connolly for The University Times

Trinity has put off telling students who’ve applied to live in College accommodation next year whether their application has been successful, citing uncertainty around the coronavirus pandemic.

An email sent to accommodation applicants today – signed by Head of Accommodation Neal Murphy, Trinity Hall Warden Roja Fazaeli and Registrar of Chambers Philip Coleman – told students Trinity is “not yet in a position to advise applicants of the outcome of their accommodation applications for next year”.

Trinity is “liaising with the College authorities and the HSE on physical distancing procedures to be implemented in student accommodation”, the email said.

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“The health and well being of our College community is of upmost [sic] importance.”

Last month, this newspaper reported that Trinity was planning to allocate campus rooms for next year in May as normal, but that offers would not be finalised until the confirmation of next year’s academic calendar is confirmed.

In March, students living in Trinity’s accommodation – including campus, Halls, Binary Hub and Kavanagh Court – were told that they had to vacate their accommodation within days, and stay home “until notified otherwise”.

After a severe backlash, College loosened the criteria which allowed some students were to stay in their accommodation, in particular if they had parents or guardians at home who were immunocompromised or if they were unable to return home due to travel restrictions.

This week, after part of its phased re-opening plan, Trinity opened campus back up to all residents.

Last week, The University Times reported that Trinity Hall residents were concerned about College’s plans to move Halls residents into a single apartment block, after a case of coronavirus was confirmed in the residence last week.

On April 14th, residents received an email from the Halls Accommodation Office – seen by The University Times – that told them that students remaining in Trinity Hall past May 17th would have to move out of their flats and into a single, designated apartment block so College can close other apartment blocks to “conserve energy and costs”.

Last month, residents of Trinity Hall expressed outrage over College’s move to charge them rent over the extended exam period, with one student describing the decision as “no different from a Mafioso type extortion”.